Currently, wireless communication systems such as wireless local area networks (LANs) are widely used. In many wireless communication systems, access points (sometimes referred to as “base stations” or “radio repeaters”) that perform wireless communication are coupled to wired networks that perform packet communication. Wireless communication devices such as mobile communication terminals wirelessly communicate with access points, so that the wireless communication devices are able to send packets through the access points to wired networks.
An access point sends (for example broadcasts) a control signal in such a way as to allow a wireless communication device to establish a connection to the access point or maintain the connection. Some control signals are periodically sent. For example, in a wireless LAN, an access point sends control signals called beacons at predetermined beacon intervals (for example, at 102.4 millisecond intervals). In this case, a wireless communication device periodically receives some or all of the control signals sent by the access point. If wireless communication between an access point and a wireless communication device is half-duplex communication, the wireless communication device will stop sending packets while receiving a control signal from the access point. Parameters for a control signal, such as the amount of data, transmission rate, and transmission period of a control signal, are sometimes able to be set for each access point.
A wireless LAN system in which a proxy server sends a probe packet to a wireless LAN device, measures a response time until a response to the probe packet returns, and estimates the beacon interval of a wireless LAN base station has been disclosed.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-151121 discloses an example of the related art.